Dispensing spout of a carton box

ABSTRACT

A dispensing spout formed in a carton box comprising a folding flap extending from the upper edge of a front wall of said carton box and having said upper edge perforated, said folding flap being folded at the base thereof to form an overlapped portion at said base, and a top upper flap and a top lower flap both extending from the upper edges of opposite side walls adjacent said front wall, and each having a perforated line extending parallel with said respective upper edges; wherein said overlapped portion of the folding flap is adhered to said front wall which adjoins said folding flap along said perforated upper edge thus sealing said carton box, and when opening the dispensing spout, said overlapped portion thus adhered to said front wall is pulled upwardly from and stripped off said front wall, to be followed by breaking of the perforated lines, thereby opening the dispensing spout.

United States Patent [191 Sugesawa et al.

[ DISPENSING SPOUT OF A CARTON BOX [75] Inventors: Hiroshi Sugesawa, Tokyo; Shinichi Araki, Funabashi, both of Japan [73] Assignee: Lion Fat and Oil Co. Ltd.,

Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Mar. 23, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 237,403

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 2, 1971 Japan. 46-24809 [52] US. Cl. 229/7 R, 229/17 R, 229/51 D, 229/51 WB [51] Int. Cl B65d 5/72 [58] Field of Search.. 229/7 R, 17 R, 51 TS, 51 TL, 229/51 D, 51 WB [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,553,752 9/1925 Cooper 229/17 R 2,051,561 8/1936 Lindblow..... 229/17 R 2,293,060 8/1942 Hothersall.... 229/17 R 2,317,773 4/1943 Kavanaugh.. 229/51 WB 2,345,978 4/1944 Hultin 229/17 R 3,185,377 5/1965 Moore 229/17 R 3,289,913 12/1966 Svensson 229/17 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 3/1939 Great Britain 229/17 R [451 Apr. 30, 1974 40,745 5/1937 Netherlands; ..229/17R 472,474 9/1937 Great Britain 229/i7-R 9/1952 Denmark 229/51 D Primary Examiner--Willia m T. Dixson, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Stephen Marcus Attorney, Agent, or FirmCushman, Darby &

Cushman 7] ABSTRACT A dispensing spout formed in a carton box comprising a folding flap extending from the upper edge of a front wall of said carton box and having said upper edge perforated, said folding flap being folded at the base thereof to form an overlapped portion at said base, anda top upper flap and a top lower flap both extend ing from the upper edges of opposite side walls adjacent said front wall, and each having a perforated line extending parallel with said respective upper edges; wherein said overlapped portion of the folding flap is adhered to said front wall which adjoins said folding flap along said perforated upper edge thus sealing said carton box, and when opening the dispensing spout, said overlapped portion thus adhered to said front wall is pulled upwardly from and stripped off said front wall, to be followed by breaking of the perforated lines, thereby opening the dispensing spout.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEI APR 30 I974 sum 1 [IF 2 IF/G.2

P A'TENTEHAPR 30 I874 SHEET 2 BF 2 PRIOR ART.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention:

The present invention relates to a dispensing spout provided in a carton box which is used to store granular products such as detergents, medicines, foods, etc.

2. Description of the Prior Art:

In the prior art there have been a variety of carton boxes whose dispensing spouts are of those types which are openable by pushing the perforated portions on a side wall thereof to be then cut out. However, since the sheet materials composing the-carton boxes are relatively strong, the perforations are hard to cut off by pushing with ones fingers in a direction perpendicular to the sheet surface. If the spout portions are perforated deeply so as to be easily cut out by pushing, there has been possibility of the contents in the boxes being moistened by moisture contained in the external atmosphere. If they are perforated shallowly, the spouts are very hard to cut out only by hand. The abovementioned disadvantages have been common to almost every dispensing spout formed in a carton box in the past. Further, in recent years those women who have their hands manicured have been increasing in number, therefore, even from this point of view those carton boxes whose dispensing spouts are adapted to be opened by pushing with ones fingers are quite inappropriate for practical use.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION A first object of the present invention is to provide an easily openable dispensing spout formed in a carton box which has a dispensing spout openable only by pulling and unable to be cut out by pushing.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing spout formed in. a carton box which has a folding flap adapted to serve as a lid flap after the dispensing spout is cut out.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing spout formed in a carton box which is capable of keeping the contents from becoming easily moistened and deteriorating.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1-4 are perspective views partially showing an embodiment according to the present invention,

FIG. 1 shows the carton box before it is completely assembled,

FIG. 2 shows the completed carton box which is now ready to accomodate granular products,

FIG. 3 shows the completely sealed carton box,

FIG. 4 shows the carton box with its dispensing spout opened,

FIG. Sis a cross-sectional view cut along line A-A in FIG. 3,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing part of a conventional dispensing spout.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention succeeded in solving the above mentioned disadvantages possessed by a conventional dispensing spout.

Referring now to the drawings, the structure of a dispensing spout according to the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter.

Compressed lines BD and CE are made on a folding flap 13 extending from the upper edge PR of a front wall 14 of a carton box generally designated by numeral l, and parallel with said upper edge. The upper edge PR between the folding flap and the front wall 14 which one other is perforated along the whole length thereof. Both the insides of plane PBDRl3a and plane BCED13b are adhered together. Hereinafter this adhered portion is designated by numeral 15. The upper juncture edges of two opposite side walls adjacent said front wall 14 from which extend a top lower flap 1 1 and a top upper flap 12 respectively are perforated toward said front wall 14 e.g., at PO and RS along the desired lengths thereof. With this arrangement, the carton box is folded up, and after granular materials are filled in the box, the packing of the carton box is completed by the following steps: .T he folding flap 13 is first outwardly folded along the upper edge of the front wall 14, and then inwardly folded back on itself along the compressed line BD. The top lower flap 11 is then inwardly folded to overlie said flap 13 thus folded, and stuck thereto by adhesive. The top upper flap I2 is also inwardly folded into superposed relation with the fold flap l1 and adhesively stuck thereto. Then, the adhered portion 15 is adhesively stuck to the front wall 14. The shape of the carton box thus completed is shown in FIG. 3, and the arrangement of these flaps overlapped one upon another as clearly shown in FIG. 5.

When opening this carton box, said adhered portion 15 is first stripped off 'by pulling the folded line Then the box can be opened only by further-pulling said stuck portion 15 in said stripping direction. Then said perforated lines PR, RS and P0 are broken and the carton box is opened as shown in FIG. 4. Further, if one or more compressed lines 14a are provided on a portion of the front wall 14 with which the adhered portion 15 is in contact, for facilitating stripping of said stuck portion 15 from said front wall 14, the stuck portion 15 is not fully adhesively stuck to said contact portion.

Besides, if the perforated lines PO and RS along the juncture edges of the top upper flap and-top lower flap are too deep, there is a possibility of the hermetic sealing of the box being lost-due to breakage of a part of the perforated portions inthe case of the box receiving shocks when it collides with something at the corners thereof. To avoid such aforesaid'i ncidental breakage, it is also effective to provide perforated lines P'Q' and RS' on the flaps 11 and 12, parallel with the upper edges'of said opposite side walls which are junctions with both the top upper and lower flaps, respectively, and slightly inwardly spaced therefrom, instead of perforating the lines PO and RS. Further, in this case,'if points K and L on the upper edge of the front wall 14 positionally correspond to those lines P'Q and R'S' respectively after the top upper and lower flaps 11 and 12 are folded to overlap each other, and if then perforated lines are provided between BK and DL lines just by pulling up said stuck portion 15. Thus, these perforated lines serve as guides for sequential breaking of said perforated lines P'Q and R'S'.

Since the dispensing spout according to the present invention is constructed as mentioned above, the objects described at the beginning of this specification can be completely achieved, and furthermore, this dispensing spout has also another advantage that without the aid of any accessaries the dispensing spout can be constructed only by adding simple stepsto a usual process for constructing a conventional carton box.

'We claim: v 1. In a carton box having a front wall and two opposite side walls adjacent said front wall, a dispensing spout comprising;

a folding flap extending from an upper edge of said front wall, said folding flap being outwardly folded along said upper edge of said front wall, then folded back on itself at a portion near said upper edge to form an overlapping portion, and further inwardly folded at said upper edge; first and second flaps extending from upper edges of said opposite side walls, both being inwardly folded along said upper edges of .said opposite side walls respectively into overlapping and adhered relation with each other and with said folding flap, said upper edges of said side opposite walls being perforated toward said front wall to a desired length, whereby said upper edge of said front wall is perforated so that when said folding flap is pulled upwardly at said overlapping portion, said perforated upper edge of said front wall is broken to be followed by breakage of said upper edges of said opposite side walls, to define an aperture.

2. The dispensing spout according to claim 1, wherein said overlapping portion being adhered to said front wall.

3. The dispensing spout according to claim 2, wherein at least one compressed line is scored on a portion of said front wall with which said overlapping portion is in contact for prevention of full adherence of said overlapping portion to said front wall, thereby to facilitate stripping'of said overlapping portion off said front wall. 1

'4. In a carton box having a front wall and two opposite side walls adjacent said front wall, a dispensing spout comprising;

a folding flap extending from an upper edge of said front wall, said folding flap being outwardly folded along said upper edge of said front wall, then folded back on itself at a portion near said upper edge'to form an overlapping portion, and further inwardly folded at said upper edge;

first and second flaps extending from upper edges of said opposite side walls, both being inwardly folded along said upper edges of said opposite side walls respectively into overlapping and adhered relation with each other and with said folding flap;

first and second perforated lines of a desired length being provided on said first and second flaps toward said front wall in slightly inwardly spaced relation from said upper edges of said opposite side walls, whereby said upper edge of said front wall is perforated so that when said folding flap is pulled upwardly at said overlapping portion, said perforated upper edge of said front wall is broken to be followed by breakage of said first and second perforated lines, to define an aperture.

5. The dispensing spout according to claim 4, wherein said overlapping portion is adhered to said front wall.

6. The dispensing spout according to claim 5, wherein at least one compressed line is provided on a portion of said front wall with which said adhered portion is in contact, for prevention of full sticking of said overlapping portion to said front wall, to facilitate stripping of said overlapping portion off said front wall.

7. The dispensing spout according to claim 4, wherein said first and second perforated lines are parallel with the upper edges of said opposite side walls. 

1. In a carton box having a front wall and two opposite side walls adjacent said front wall, a dispensing spout comprising; a folding flap extending from an upper edge of said front wall, said folding flap being outwardly folded along said upper edge of said front wall, then folded back on itself at a portion near said upper edge to form an overlapping portion, and further inwardly folded at said upper edge; first and second flaps extending from upper edges of said opposite side walls, both being inwardly folded along said upper edges of said opposite side walls respectively into overlapping and adhered relation with each other and with said folding flap, said upper edges of said side opposite walls being perforated toward said front wall to a desired length, whereby said upper edge of said front wall is perforated so that when said folding flap is pulled upwardly at said overlapping portion, said perforated upper edge of said front wall is broken to be followed by breakage of said upper edges of said opposite side walls, to define an aperture.
 2. The dispensing spout according to claim 1, wherein said overlapping portion being adhered to said front wall.
 3. The dispensing spout according to claim 2, wherein at least one compressed line is scored on a portion of said front wall with which said overlapping portion is in contact for prevention of full adherence of said overlapping portion to said front wall, thereby to facilitate stripping of said overlapping portion off said front wall.
 4. In a carton box having a front wall and two opposite side walls adjacent said front wall, a dispensing spout comprising; a folding flap extending from an upper edge of said front wall, said folding flap being outwardly folded along said upper edge of said front wall, then folded back on itself at a portion near said upper edge to form an overlapping portion, and further inwardly folded at said upper edge; first and second flaps extending from upper edges of said opposite side walls, both being inwardly folded along said upper edges of said opposite side walls respectively into overlapping and adhered relation with each other and with said folding flap; first and second perforated lines of a desired length being provided on said first and second flaps toward said front wall in slightly inwardly spaced relation from said upper edges of said opposite side walls, whereby said upper edge of said front wall is perforated so that when said folding flap is pulled upwardly at said overlapping portion, said perforated upper edge of said front wall is broken to be followed by breakage of said first and second perforated lines, to define an aperture.
 5. The dispensing spout according to claim 4, wherein said overlapping portion is adhered to said front wall.
 6. The dispensing spout according to claim 5, wherein at least one compressed line is provided on a portion of said front wall with which said adhered portion is in contact, for prevention of full sticking of said overlapping portion to said front wall, to facilitate stripping of said overlapping portion off said front wall.
 7. The dispensing spout according to claim 4, wherein said first and second perforated lines are parallel with the upper edges of said opposite side walls. 